1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electro-optical device, typically an EL (electroluminescence) display device formed by a semiconductor element (an element using a semiconductor thin film) made on a substrate, and to electronic equipment (an electronic device) having the electro-optical device as a display (also referred to as a display portion).
2. Description of the Related Art
Techniques of forming a TFT on a substrate have been widely progressing in recent years, and developments of applications to an active matrix type display device are advancing. In particular, a TFT using a polysilicon film has a higher electric field effect mobility (also referred to as mobility) than a TFT using a conventional amorous silicon film, and high speed operation is therefore possible. As a result, it becomes possible to perform pixel control, conventionally performed by a driver circuit external to the substrate, by a driver circuit formed on the same substrate as the pixel.
This type of active matrix display device has been in the spotlight because of the many advantage which can be obtained by incorporating various circuits and elements on the same substrate in this type of active matrix display device, such as reduced manufacturing cost, small size, increased yield, and higher throughput.
Switching elements are formed by a TFT for each of the pixels in the active matrix display device, current control is performed by driver elements using the switching elements, and an EL layer (electroluminescence layer) is made to emit light. A typical pixel structure at this time is disclosed in, for example, in FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,684,365 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 8-234683).
As shown in FIG. 1 of the U.S. Patent, a drain of a switching element (T1) is connected to a gate electrode of a current control element (T2), and is also connected in parallel to a capacitor (Cs). The gate voltage of the current control element (T2) is maintained by the electric charge stored in the capacitor (Cs).
Conversely, when the switching element (T1) is in the non-selected state, the electric charge leaks through the switching element (T1) if the capacitor (Cs) is not connected (the flow of current at this point is referred to as off current), and the voltage applied to the gate electrode of the current control element (T2) cannot be maintained. This is a problem which cannot be avoided when the switching element (T1) is formed by a transistor without forming the capacitor. However, the capacitor (Cs) is formed within the pixel, and therefore this becomes a factor in reducing the effective luminescence surface area (effective image display area) of the pixel.
Further, it is necessary for a large current to flow in the current control element (T2) in order to allow the EL layer to emit light. In other words, the performance required for the TFT is entirely different between the switching element and the current control element. In such a case, it is difficult to ensure the performance required by all of the circuits and element with only one kind of TFT structure.